James Harron

Growing up in Ireland, horses seem to find their way into most people’s lives. While racing was not specifically part of my family background growing up, my father, Dean, did get involved in breeding later in life as well as becoming a key figure within the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, and my aunty was a very big and successful breeder of eventers. For me, riding lessons on a Sunday led to an early foray into showjumping. This eventually led me into working with racehorses, largely with Coolmore during my school holidays and from there I was hooked.

you left school?

I left school at 15 to go to Enniskillen College, where I studied Equine Business, and there I became very convinced and focused that horses would be my career. During my time at Coolmore, Eddie Fitzpatrick became a great mentor for me and set me up with some time working at Paul Shanahan’s farm. This early experience, working for some wonderful operators opened my eyes to the tremendous opportunities that this industry has in terms of both building a career, and creating an incredibly exciting and fulfilling lifestyle based around this great sport.

What brought you to Australia and why have you stayed?

After working for Paul, Eddie advised me to do some time in Australia, so I travelled down for a three month stint doing the yearling sales for Coolmore leading into the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Following that, I went to Gai Waterhouse for a week’s work experience and that easily turned into a year. That was the start for me in Australia as I just fell in love with the place.

How did your agency begin and who helped you along the way?

I worked with Hubie de Burgh at de Burgh Equine for a couple of years in a bloodstock role, and we travelled extensively during that time, selling horses into 16 different countries. The experience with Hubie really set me up for when I went out on my own and set up James Harron Bloodstock in 2011. At the start it was just myself and my assistant Anna Ryan working in a tiny home office doing our best to make a go of things in the Aussie tradition.

While I had been with Hubie I had met Edmund and Belinda Bateman, who placed their trust in me to secure yearlings for them, and it was a great thrill to repay that trust with early purchases such as Gr1 William Reid winner Foxwedge, Gr2 Silver Slipper winner Satin Shoes and Listed Widden Stakes winner Georgette Silk. Although Edmund very sadly passed away in 2015, Belinda has remained a cornerstone of our ownership group, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity that she and Edmund afforded me with.

In terms of setting up the agency I have always been very interested in the business side of things, to build a company for the long term. Of course many of our owners have been instrumental, not just in terms of their support of the business, but also in terms of being great sounding boards to learn from, all being very successful in their own right. Not to single out just one, but John Camilleri has been a fantastic friend and mentor.

This industry allows you every opportunity to learn from such accomplished people and pick their brains to take away things that you can apply to your own business.

What is the background behind your racing colours?

When we started the Colt Partnership we wanted to come up with a set of colours which could become instantly recognisable, and also played into our base here in Australia. The thinking was to use the Australian green and gold theme, and when Anna discovered that green with gold epaulettes were available we snatched them up instantly!

You have one of the highest rates of selecting stakes winners in the Bluebloods database. Can you share some of your insights about yearling selection?

Firstly, we have been fortunate enough to cultivate a fantastic group of owners, which has very much enabled us to operate at the quality end of the market. This has been a firm part of our strategy throughout everything we do, with a central aim of creating enduring equity in truly valuable thoroughbreds for our owners. With both colts and fillies our aims are, first and foremost, racecourse success, however another large part, in accordance with our aims, is identifying and securing horses with the physical attributes that best complement racecourse success in order to build value.

From the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale statistics in this issue.

We operate in a time now where a key part of the end goal, the commercial breeding arena, is incredibly educated and sophisticated, so you have to start with a product that you would want to replicate when the time comes. We are intensely diligent during the inspection periods at the yearling sales and would inspect horses multiple times in order to fully understand them - not just from a physical perspective, but also how they are coping with the busy sales environment mentally as this is such an important part of racecourse success.

In terms of physique, and particularly with the colts, we are looking for the kind of horse with the strong, robust build who can cope with the rigors of training and, hopefully, compete in the top 2YO races, as this is where the stallions of tomorrow are uncovered.

Which horses would you credit with helping your business succeed?

I would probably single out three horses which have all been pivotal in terms of our success. Foxwedge got the whole thing off the ground, and really got us off to a flying start. He will always be a special horse as seeing the enjoyment that Edmund and Belinda got out of his success and, ultimately, him securing a place at stud, was hugely rewarding. He also provided the catalyst that sparked my ultimate goal of putting together our Colt Partnership.

Foxwedge (Fastnet Rock-Forest Native, by Forest Wildcat) was purchased by De Burgh Equine from Luskin Park Stud for $925,000 and won on debut as a November two year- old. Third in the Gr2 Todman Stakes, he was a dual Group winner at three in the spring before winning the Gr1 William Reid Stakes as an autumn three year-old. He also ran third to Hay List in the Gr1 Newmarket Handicap and fourth to Black Caviar, Hay List, and Buffering in the Gr1 Lightning Stakes.

At stud, he has sired 26 stakes winners, five at Gr1 level. Capitalist was from the first crop of our Colt Partnership, and for him to rubber stamp the proof of concept so early was crucial in maintaining the faith of our supporters, most of whom are still involved in the partnership today. Nobody will get a horse like that out of every crop of purchases, however getting him in the very first crop really gave the whole concept a kick start, and he has been a tremendous source of joy and, importantly, commercial success for our owners.

Capitalist (Written Tycoon-Kitalpha, by Fusaichi Pegasus) was a $165,000 purchase by James Harron Bloodstock and Snowden Racing from Daandine Stud. He won his first three in a row at two including the R-Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, was second in the Gr2 Todman Stakes, then won the Gr1 Golden Slipper. At three he ran third in the Gr2 Roman Consul Stakes. At stud, he has 22 stakes winners, led by Gr1 winner Captivant. Finally, King’s Legacy came along during the Covid years and gave everybody a real boost during a very challenging period.

It’s just the beginning for him at stud, but he is a horse I have great faith in, and the start he has made with two Sydney Saturday winners is so exciting. Anyone who has raced horses in the Sydney area will know just how hard that is to do. King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice-Breakfast in Bed, by Hussonet) was a $1.4 million purchase by James Harron Bloodstock from Segenhoe Stud. He won the Gr3 BJ McLachlan Stakes at his second start, and went on to win the Gr1 Sires’ Produce Stakes and Gr1 Champagne Stakes to end his two year-old season with three wins from six starts.

At three, he ran third in the Gr1 Golden Rose. His oldest crop are two year-olds in 2024/25.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in racing?

Work hard, use the tremendous opportunity this industry offers to travel the world, and learn as much as you can from as many people as you can. Always ask questions and absorb as much knowledge as possible. BBBB